References & Guides

Overview

We can provide you with a range of gridded datasets (grids)
for Australia.

These datasets can be ported into a geographic information system (GIS) or similar visualization
system. You can then use the GIS to investigate the data or
generate maps.

Each grid is essentially a two-dimensional array of values
(grid cells) which maps on to an area (such as part of or all
of Australia). The values (data) associated
with each grid-cell represent a meteorological element such
as rainfall or temperature.

You can view a full list of the meteorological elements available
as grids in web format
or as a PDF.

Note: Prior to requesting spatial data, please ensure that the available file formats are compatible with your visualization system/GIS. The Bureau does not provide advice on the use of proprietary software packages.

Metadata

Information about each of the gridded datasets is provided
in a set of metadata files.

These metadata files provide information about the grids.
For example, they tell you how the grids were generated, the resolution of
the grids and the areal extent of the grids. Copies of the metadata
files are available from the gridded meteorological
elements page.

Output formats available

The grids are available in a number of formats which are
compatible with the more popularly used GIS software. These
formats are described below.

Shapefiles - a shapefile stores non-topological geometry
and attribute information for the spatial features in a data
set. The geometry for a feature is stored as a shape comprising
a set of vector coordinates. For more information about shapefiles
go to www.esri.com/library/whitepapers/pdfs/shapefile.pdf.

Copyright Information

Copyright for any data supplied by the Bureau of Meteorology
is held in the Commonwealth of Australia and the purchaser shall
give acknowledgement of the source in reference to the data.
Please contact us for more information.